Scientific Coordinator
Valeria Fedeli
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Open School
Honours Program City Science for transformative urban futures
Where knowledge co-production shapes policy innovation and urban change
#craftinActionAcademic Faculty
Anna Moro, Alessandro Coppola
Coordination Team
Alice Ranzini, Daniele Viarengo
Programme Management
Ilaria Tosoni
Partner Supervisors
Pietro Reviglio (Eurocities) Maurizio Cabras, Francesco Severgnini (ANCI Lombardia)
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CRAFT – Competence Center on Antifragile Territories (DAStU, Politecnico di Milano) is launching a new Honours Programme in collaboration with AUIC–Politecnico di Milano, the City Science Initiative, Eurocities and ANCI Lombardia.
The programme is an advanced extracurricular training course addressed to 20 selected Master’s students at the Politecnico di Milano, admitted through a competitive application process based on academic background, curriculum vitae and motivation letter.
What is the Honours Programme about?
The Honours Programme offers a unique learning experience at the intersection of research, public policy and urban innovation.
It combines:
It combines:
- theoretical lectures by academics and experts,
- study trips to leading European City Science cases,
- applied research and project work,
- direct interaction with Italian public administrations and European city networks.
Students will work on City Science initiatives (CSI) as an emerging field of practice, learning how cities integrate scientific knowledge, data and interdisciplinary research into decision-making processes and policy design.
A strong emphasis is placed on hands-on work: students will analyse international experiences and collaborate with Italian cities to explore how similar approaches could be adapted and tested in different local contexts.
Why City Science?
The programme explores City Science as a new frontier for:
- understanding and governing urban complexity,
- integrating scientific knowledge into public decision-making,
- fostering innovation in local policy design,
- supporting systemic, sustainable and democratic urban transitions.
The goal is to respond to contemporary urban challenges by strengthening the dialogue between universities, public administrations, research centres and local stakeholders, and by experimenting with new models of knowledge co-production.
An international learning experience
A key feature of the Honours Programme is the opportunity to engage directly with advanced European City Science cases.
Students will take part in study trips to cities such as London, Leeds and Amsterdam, where City Science Offices and research–policy interfaces are already well established. These experiences will be complemented by work with Italian partner cities (including Torino, Perugia and Pavia), which are exploring how to develop similar initiatives in their own contexts.
Through this process, students will work closely with two major institutional networks:
- Eurocities, one of the most important European city networks,
- ANCI Lombardia, representing Italian municipalities.
This provides students with first-hand exposure to real policy environments, institutional actors and international urban governance debates.
Structure and credits
Credits: 8 ECTS (additional or in substitution of elective credits)
Total workload: 200 hours (80 hours of in-presence teaching / 120 hours of individual and group work / an intensive final workshop/event)
Duration: March – June 2026
Final event: July / September 2026
Attendance: 1 day per week (Mondays, tbc)
Language: English
Location: Leonardo Campus, Craft Space, 11B, via Ampere, 20
Total workload: 200 hours (80 hours of in-presence teaching / 120 hours of individual and group work / an intensive final workshop/event)
Duration: March – June 2026
Final event: July / September 2026
Attendance: 1 day per week (Mondays, tbc)
Language: English
Location: Leonardo Campus, Craft Space, 11B, via Ampere, 20
Study trips to European and Italian partner cities are an integral part of the programme, and travel expenses and production materials are fully covered for participating students.
How to apply
The Call for Applications will be published soon.
Interested students are invited to check the CRAFT website regularly for updates and detailed application instructions.
Interested students are invited to check the CRAFT website regularly for updates and detailed application instructions.
Open Day – January 26th, 2026 | 12:30
The Open Day will be an opportunity to learn more about the programme, meet the coordination team and ask questions about the application process.